Transaction

Disclaimer: We own nothing but the members of the made up band Opium.

Author’s Notes: Yay for chapter five! This chapter isn’t exactly exciting per se, unless you can actually sense what’s supposed to be going on. Kel and I really liked to focus in on these two when they have their moments alone.

We hope you like them too!
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Transaction
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Chapter Five
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Tohma watched the door unflinching as Taki burst through. He was smiling pleasantly as always, as if he hadn't moved from their last encounter. Taki, on the other hand, looked as though he was expecting the blond to have a gun drawn and cocked, aimed right for his head.

What a shame! To think his newest manager was so terrified of little old him.

His teal eyes glanced towards the clock, lingering over the hands. Thinking, deciding...

"Aizawa-san," he finally said, getting up from his seat, giving a short bow. "Please, have a seat. Have a drink. You look like you've had quite the work out."

One minute late... well, it wasn't fair to throw him out on that. A mere second less and it would've still been 4:30. Besides, what was a few seconds, really? His company practically ran itself.

"Water or scotch, Aizawa-san?" Tohma asked, going over to a small bar area. If he remembered, that had been the ex singers favorite.

Scotch. Taki nodded. His weakness for that drink was going to be his undoing. "Scotch."

He was a little too grateful to take a chair, masking a wince as he stretched his sore legs. He would have to keep himself still for awhile. He'd been warned about what overworking himself physically could do.

He was glad that the physicality only meant walking or running.

Taki set the contract on the table, pushing his hair out of his eyes unconsciously. It fell right back into place, but it hardly mattered, the motion one of those strange habits he never really noticed until it started to bug him.

When that happened, he went in for a haircut.

"Good to see old favorites never die," Tohma said, taking out two round glasses and placing them on the bar top with a light chink. Then more proceeded those as he placed a few ice cubes in each glass. While Taki preferred scotch (though he certainly couldn't understand why), the blond preferred rum. Any kind, though usually something with sweeter tastes.

He walked back over, placing the glass in front of Taki on the table. Tohma, still standing, leaned over to flip through the contract. All the 't's were crossed and every 'i' dotted. He sipped his drink pleasantly, ice clinking merrily and the blond walked over to the window of the room.

"So, Taki," Tohma sighed, watching the congestion of Tokyo below. "If you don't mind my being personal, how have things been for you?"

How had things been for him? Taki raised a brow at Tohma's back over the glass as he took a sip. He didn't set it back down on the table, instead holding it in both hands as he sat.

"Hectic. In and out of the hospital, signing contracts, dealing with the band..." Yeah, hectic was a good word for it.

He couldn't believe he was sitting in the same conference room he'd been signed in, having a discussion about how his life had been with the same man who had made and ruined him. He had to be insane to even think about having a calm conversation about it!

Especially with Tohma.

His throat burned with the scotch, and he looked past Tohma, out the window and over the tops of the many small buildings surrounding NG. Taller buildings loomed up over the fourth floor, and the view was lost.

It was always better the higher up you went.

Tohma took another sip, heat blurring through his chest pleasantly as he watched the little nothings of the world go by. He hummed noncommittally, tilting his head slightly. In the grey background of a nearby building, he could see Taki's reflection quite clearly.

He certainly didn't look haggard or overworked. The short years hadn't been too bad.

"I can see you've picked yourself back up. And in a surprisingly little amount of time," Tohma commented, eyebrows raised slightly as he smiled. "Why not try and dive into a solo career? If it's not too personal a question, of course."

Blacklisting was beneath Tohma (or so he felt). If Taki had wanted to, the blond was sure he would've gotten signed eventually.

Too personal?

Taki had wasted all of his "too personal" avoiding Kenji's questions. Tohma's were polite in comparison.

"I can't make myself do it." He shrugged, taking another drink from the glass. His eyes shut as the burn went down, and he let them stay that way. He wasn't comfortable in the room, no, but he didn't want to open his eyes and see that smile.

Not even the reflection.

"Two years isn't too bad. I could probably make it back through if I tried," Not bragging, just confident. He was sure he could. "But it's not ASK. We both know I was nothing without them."

Ma and Ken. He sighed, opening his eyes only halfway. Was he still nothing without them, or had he really moved on?

"Only because you made it that way," Tohma responded, turning the glass between both hands. "You put so much weight on Ma and Ken, that you both convinced yourself and your band mates that you couldn't be anything without each other."

Touching, but not professional. A band that was formed amongst friends was usually in the mindset of that. That all of them were nothing if they weren't with each other. Usually though, business broke things down and apart.

Taki either had deep faith in friends that had ditched him (at his command of course), or the short time they were famous, it hadn't had a chance to break down.

"But, you've done wonderfully for yourself," Tohma said, sipping the drink. "Are you happy in this line of work?"

"It's better then nothing." Taki finished off his drink, and the glass stayed in his hands, restless fingers tapping against it. He had to have something to do with his hands, something to dissipate the useless energy.

It was a wonder he didn't play an instrument, but for the life of him, he couldn't make his hands do two things at once.

Finally, he sighed and set the cup down on the table, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. His fingers were cool from the glass, and it felt good on his warmed skin.

He hated to sweat, but he recognized it as a necessary part of living.

He just didn't like it any.

"Ah, leaving it all up in the air, hm?" Tohma asked, the ice jingling merrily in his glass. "At least... that's how it seems."

It was the truth. Taki's statement 'it's better than nothing' was obvious proof. It showed he would rather be on the stage than putting people on it. Oh well... it couldn't be helped. It was Taki's choice.

"Well, Taki," the blond sighed, finishing off his drink and turning to face the dark haired man. "It seems as though we're all set. I'd like to get started with Opium next week, bright and early. Think you can manage that?"

He set his glass on the table, smiling.

"Of course." Taki pushed himself up and out of the seat, settling his weight evenly on both feet. "I'm sure we won't let you down." Every time, and Taki was already sick of it. He started as business, and he ended as business.

And yet, somehow they managed to become personal in the middle. What was Tohma trying to do to him? Whatever it was, Taki didn't like it. Not a bit.

Giving a bow that really was just a nod (they seemed to be getting shorter every time he had to do it), Taki straightened. "We'll see you next week. Bright and early." He remembered what time 'bright and early' translated into.

Kenji was going to hate it.

That thought alone was enough to convince Taki to agree.

"Glad to hear it," Tohma said, nodding back, watching Taki carefully. "I'll be having my secretary contact you on date, time and room."

Something about the way he was moving seemed to be off. His legs. The way he was careful standing up and moving now, even from side to side. Hm, something to watch closely perhaps? Possibly.

Well, he had a while to think on everything, though the stack of papers in front of him was proof that he could not take back his deal. In some ways he was glad. Now he couldn't back out of it. In other ways he wasn't. He couldn't back out of it.

"I can't wait to see you in action again, Aizawa-san," Tohma said, ending the meeting in business.

Taki just raised a brow before he left, snorting softly as the door shut. "I bet you can’t, Seguchi-san."
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Author’s Notes: I’m putting these chapters up at a fairly regular pace. I’ll tell you all right now, I’ve made a total of 30 chapters so far, and that’s not even half the story. I thought about going through some chapters and seeing if I could smush some together… but there’s only one group I want to do that with. Maybe. We’ll see as we go.

Leave a review, tell us how we’re doing!

~Subby